MARTINEZ, Calif. — Here’s a timeline that should make every law-abiding citizen’s blood pressure rise.
A burglary defendant allegedly violates the conditions of his home detention. He’s taken back into custody. A judge releases him again. The next day, police say, he kills a 68-year-old man while committing another burglary.
Now the record of California Superior Court Judge Nichelle Holmes — appointed to the bench by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024 — is under intense scrutiny as prosecutors pursue a murder case against 36-year-old Marcos Eduardo Iriarte-Valdez.
The judge who released Valdez from prison just 24 hours before he m*rdered an elderly man in front of his home, is Nichelle Holmes. She was appointed by Gavin Newsom.
NAME AND SHAME https://t.co/cLL1qjDvM9 pic.twitter.com/3zcwKTf1hN
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 12, 2026
And an old interview with Holmes isn’t exactly helping. “Justice does not always mean a prison sentence,” Holmes said in 2017 while serving as a Contra Costa County deputy district attorney. “Sometimes it means a treatment program, or intensive counseling, and sometimes it means a dismissal.”
That was a broad statement about criminal justice — not a comment about Iriarte-Valdez. But after what allegedly happened in Martinez last week, those words are getting a very different hearing.
Iriarte-Valdez was already facing charges stemming from an earlier burglary case when authorities say he violated the terms of his home detention. According to court information reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Holmes released him from custody on Aug. 5 despite that violation.
Then came Aug. 6. Prosecutors say 68-year-old Todd Stewart encountered Iriarte-Valdez while the suspect was burglarizing Stewart’s home in Martinez. Iriarte-Valdez allegedly attacked Stewart outside the house, stabbing him to death before fleeing in a Cadillac SUV. Surveillance video reportedly captured portions of the horrifying encounter, including Stewart screaming for help.
Police arrested Iriarte-Valdez the following evening.
🚨 JUST IN: Calls are ramping up nationwide to IMPEACH the judge who released an illegal alien that went on to m*rder an innocent man 24 hours later
Resident: “I don’t understand why he was on the street!”
GAVIN NEWSOM is ALSO to blame!
“Had the suspect been detained or… pic.twitter.com/7AlOy6tCcK
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 12, 2026
He has now been charged with murder with the special circumstance that the killing occurred during a burglary. If convicted of that special circumstance, he could face life in prison without parole. This time, Judge David Goldstein denied him bail, finding that he posed a danger to public safety.
Todd Stewart, meanwhile, is dead.
The Department of Homeland Security initially publicly described Iriarte-Valdez as an “illegal alien” from Venezuela who also holds Spanish citizenship.
Federal immigration authorities became involved after his arrest in the Stewart case, while California’s sanctuary policies have once again become part of the political battle surrounding a violent crime.
Those laws impede cooperation with ICE and can prevent federal authorities from taking removable offenders into custody. Newsom’s office says federal immigration enforcement remains the federal government’s responsibility.
Republican California Assemblyman David Tangipa didn’t mince words about Stewart. “This murder was 100% preventable if we just enforced the laws currently in place,” Tangipa told Fox News. “But Governor Newsom’s garbage sanctuary laws and activist judges are leading to the death of Americans.
“Californians deserve a justice system that protects innocent Americans first.”
Newsom’s office declined to comment specifically on Holmes’ decision to release Iriarte-Valdez after the alleged home-detention violation.
Instead, a spokesman said: “This individual should face justice for his alleged crime.” The governor’s office also rejected the argument that California’s sanctuary laws prevented federal authorities from enforcing immigration law, saying Washington has ample resources to do so.
Fine.
But there’s a more immediate question that has nothing to do with Washington. Why was this defendant released?
Iriarte-Valdez had previously been charged in connection with residential burglaries in Orinda. And Holmes had already granted him release on his own recognizance in August 2024.
By 2026, he was facing felony burglary charges again and was placed on home detention.
Then came the alleged violation. Then custody. Then another release. Then, according to prosecutors, another burglary.
And this time a homeowner didn’t survive.
That sequence is why this story cannot simply be dismissed as another partisan fight over immigration.
There is a criminal-justice question here that Californians have every right to demand be answered: At what point does a defendant’s repeated behavior outweigh the system’s preference for pretrial release?
Holmes’ background adds an interesting dimension.
Before Newsom appointed her to the bench, she spent 12 years as a Contra Costa County prosecutor, handling domestic violence, sexual assault, child trafficking and community violence cases.
And the full 2017 interview now being circulated is more nuanced than one viral quotation. Holmes talked about fighting racial disparities in the justice system. “The victims oftentimes are from the same community as the suspects. They need a voice, also.” She said she wanted to “advocate for the victims,” make her community safer and ensure “the Constitution is upheld on all sides.”
Which makes the question surrounding this case even more unavoidable.
What about Todd Stewart’s voice?
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Fox News — Newsom-appointed judge who freed migrant before fatal stabbing said justice ‘sometimes means a dismissal’
- San Francisco Chronicle — Martinez man charged with stabbing man who interrupted home burglary
- University of San Francisco — Nichelle Holmes: Giving Voice to Victims
- University of San Francisco — Meet USF’s recent judicial appointees, including Nichelle Holmes
